1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to coaxial wind turbines and, more particularly, to a coaxial wind turbine apparatus which includes a pair of rearward-mounted, spring-loaded fins to orient the air inlet opening to face the direction of the oncoming wind and close a damper panel or shutter array at the air inlet opening during very high wind conditions.
2. General Background
Generators which are wind powered via wind turbines are very well known. In operation, the wind turbines are typically designed to orient the air inlet in the direction of the wind harness the wind velocity within the wind turbine. As can be appreciated, during very high wind conditions, the rotation of the turbine wheel increases as the wind velocity increases. As a result, the gears rotating the turbine wheel may malfunction in very high wind conditions.
Several apparatuses have been patented which are aimed at wind turbines.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,191,496 issued to D. M. Elder, entitled xe2x80x9cWIND TURBINE SYSTEMxe2x80x9d discloses a coaxial wind turbine having a vertical shaft turned by rotor blades. The wind is compressed and directed to the rotor-blades by numerous stator blades. The wind attempting to enter the turbine against the prevailing wind direction and, hence, against the direction of the rotors is deflected by a top shield.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,918 issued to Turbomachines, Inc., of Irvine, Calif., on the application of V. M. Pavlecka, entitled xe2x80x9cWIND MOTOR ROTOR HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY CONSTANT PRESSURE AND RELATIVE VELOCITY FOR AIRFLOW THERETHROUGHxe2x80x9d discloses a coaxial wind turbine including a stator having a plurality of vertical blades which direct the wind into a diffuser having vertical vanes that direct the wind downstream to an outlet. A pair of fins are mounted on the rear end of the turbine. The fins cause the wind motor to act as a weather vane and therefore face into the oncoming wind.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,354 issued to J. S. Lamont, entitled xe2x80x9cWIND TURBINE APPARATUSxe2x80x9d discloses a coaxial wind turbine having an enclosure which is rotatable about the vertical axis with closeable inlet and outlet openings. The turbine includes an internal rotor carrying blades and a guidance means. The guidance means has fins to compensate for unbalanced forces and to properly orient the inlet opening with ambient wind direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,610 issued F. W. Bond, III, entitled xe2x80x9cWIND PROCESSING AIR TURBINE, AND METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING AND UTILIZING SAMExe2x80x9d; U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,621 issued to T. Bogie, entitled xe2x80x9cWINDMILLxe2x80x9d; and, U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,418 issued to V. Walters, entitle xe2x80x9cWHIRL-WIND VERTICAL AXIS WIND AND WATER TURBINExe2x80x9d, all disclose coaxial wind turbines rotatable about a vertical axis.
The preferred embodiment of coaxial wind turbine apparatus of the present invention solves the aforementioned problems in a straight forward and simple manner.
Broadly, the present invention contemplates a coaxial wind turbine apparatus which includes a pair of rearward-mounted, spring-loaded fins to orient the air inlet opening to face the direction of the oncoming wind and close a damper panel or shutter array at the air inlet opening during very high wind conditions.
More specifically, the present invention further contemplates a coaxial wind turbine apparatus comprising: a rotatable turbine housing having an air inlet opening and an air outlet opening; a rotatable turbine wheel housed in said turbine housing between the air inlet opening and the air outlet opening; a damper panel array coupled to the air inlet opening; and, a pair of spring-loaded fins mounted at a rear of said turbine housing and linked to the damper panel array wherein the pair of spring-loaded fins orients the air inlet opening to face oncoming wind and closes the damper panel array during strong ambient wind conditions.
The present invention further contemplates a method of creating wind turbine energy comprising the steps of: rotating a wind inlet opening of a wind turbine in a direction of oncoming ambient wind; detecting a strong oncoming ambient wind with pair of spring-loaded fins; and, closing said wind inlet when said strong oncoming ambient wind is detected.